If someone could craft out Declan's worst nightmare into reality, this would have been it.
Not only had his stupid powers gone haywire when he'd needed them but it had brought him back to the place that he frequently saw in his nightmares.
Atlantis.
The last time he'd been stuck in the watery hellhole, his trip had lasted for a day.
One horrible day of his life.
"You look just like me." Aubrey spoke up looking at the newest addition to Decalan's very very shitty day.
Eyes as blue as Aubrey's and a set of features that matched the former exactly, the only thing that distinguished the princess of Atlantis from Aubrey was the color of her hair.
Honey blonde, like the sun.
He'd memorised that shade in his head long back, ever since he had been a scared ten year old who had travelled back to Atlantis without even understanding his powers.
And he'd been seeing it in his nightmares ever since.
The princess looked at Raphael confused,"What's wrong with her?"
"Crap." Aubrey continued,"You look exactly like me. Not the hair obviously, I think my hair looked like that too, but after dying it-"
"Is Aubrielle quite alright?" The princess asked Raphael. There was something very airy about her tone that distinguished her from her doppelganger. It was far more refined, a mark of someone high class.
"Well, they aren't quite themselves."
Raphael answered.
"I don't understand." The princess responded.
"Yeah neither do I." Aubrey said casting a sideways glance towards Declan.
There was something about her gaze that irked Declan. She'd always been tougher to read, more than most people and for a scary moment Declan wondered if she'd seen right through him.
But the entire possibility of that was ridiculous.
There was no way she could know.
There was no way any of them could know what he was hiding.
And yet Declan found himself straining himself to use a power he rarely used.
Although he couldn't read minds, there were moments, moments of clarity in which Declan could hear them.
It wasn't a power that worked with everyone, only a selective few and that too occasionally.
Aubrey though, was the exception to the rule.
Her voice dominated over all others. He could hear her from miles apart, every tiny thought that was going on in her head.
And when he thought back, she listened.
And yet there were times when her mind and her face likewise were absolutely opaque.
This was one such time.
Of course, Declan thought, The one time he needed to know what was going on her head everything had gone silent.
He'd heard her grumbling through out their walk here but now there was nothing.
"Well these are younger versions of them." Raphael said slowly,"Versions from their past."
The princess stood with a blank face until it dawned on her. She glanced at Declan,"So they don't know who I am?"
"No. They are clueless about everything." Raphael said,"This is before they ever met us."
The princess stood still and for that second Declan can't help but cast his mind on everything that was different about the two girls who looked almost exactly like each other.
If it had been Aubrey in the latters place, Declan safely assumed that she would have probably had a far more violent and sarcastic reaction.
He'd rarely seen Aubrey shocked or surprised, simply stunned for a brief moment before moving on with her life.
But her doppelganger was different.
Stunned into silence, she stood still as if she couldn't process what had just been told to her.
Her eyes were fiercely on the floor as if she was trying hard not to cry. And finally when Declan thought that she was going to give up and cry, she looked up.
"Oh well then it's only polite to introduce oneself." She said,"I'm Vaselia."
She looked at Declan as if expecting a response but it was Aubrey who spoke up instead,"Well it would be really nice if you could tell us why we kidnapped you and are currently being hunted down."
Vaselia looked confused,"Hunted down? But that wasn-"
"We don't know what happened." Raphael said quickly cutting her off,"But you've got to be careful. Declan had warned us about this situation."
Aubrey raised an eyebrow,"Warned you?"
"He'd told us not to tell the both of you anything I'd the situation arose." Raphael said.
"Not even how the hell to get out of here?" Aubrey asked hopefully.
"Nothing."
"Of course." Aubrey sighed,"Why would things ever be that easy. Declan has to make things-"
"But he's right." Vaselia spoke up her tone surprisingly sharp on his behalf,"If we tell you everything that ia to happen in the future then it can alter things drastically. We don't doubt Declan's decision here and we don't live to make your life easier Aubrielle."
"Enough Vaselia." Raphael said,"This not the time or the place."
Well, Vaselia clearly didn't like Aubrey. But if Declan had to bet on who'd win a fight between the two he'd undoubtedly gamble all his money to bet on Aubrey.
Aubrey pursed her lips, a clear sign from her part that she was not going to let it go. Declan didn't suppose it was in her nature to take something like this sitting down.
"Okay listen up here, medival princess. I don't care who you are. I don't care why you are acting like there is something shoved up your ass." She said,"But let's get one thing very clear. I want to go back home. To my time. And I know it's not Declan's fault entirely but I need someone to blame because I don't think you know how it feels to be stuck seventy five freaking thousand years in the past on an island that's supposed to be mythical!"
Vaselia bit her lip, glaring at Aubrey,"You've always been so selfish. I don't understand why you're the chosen one."
"The chosen what?" Aubrey asked. She looked at Declan and cast a amused look his way,"I thought this is a time before Harry Potter. Then why is she plagiarising it now?"
Declan couldn't help but smile a little at that. He'd got to give it to her on that one.
"The chosen one to do what exactly?" Aubrey asked,"If you're Voldemort then I'll tot-."
"Is this is a joke to you?" Vaselia interrupted,"Because nobody else finds its amusing."
That wasn't true, Declan found it plenty amusing and something told him Raphael was enjoying it too even if he didn't understand the punch line of the joke.
"I find it amusing." Aubrey said,"And unless you tell me a way to get out of here you're going to have to find me hilarious too."
"Power is wasted on you." Vaselia snarled at Aubrey,"You're as immature as you are incapable of handling responsibility."
Aubrey raised an eyebrow,"What power? Do I-"
"She can't tell you." Declan cut her off,"Drop it."
Aubrey narrowed her eyes at him,"You know something about this, don't you?"
Declan didn't respond. Of course he knew. Everybody in the Fae world knew the legend about the most powerful angel of all.
It was a bloody and violent tale that was the prologue to every myth in the Fae world.
The chosen one.
That's what the prophecies called the Original of the first archangel.
The re-incarnation of the deadliest and most powerful angel in Fae Mythology.
And the very thought that there Aubrielle was the chosen was just downright hilarious.
At first Declan had had his suspicions considering the king himself had ordered Michael to specifically keep an eye on her.
But Aubrielle was nowhere nearly as powerful as she'd have to be to take on the role as the chosen original.
Besides as far as Declan knew an angel of that power couldn't have a Diviner, a weaker doppelganger like the others did.
And Vaselia standing right in front of him was proof that his suspicions were somewhat true.
After all that's what made the Chosen Original more dangerous, the Fae didn't have any precedence when it came to the most powerful angel of them all.
They didn't know whether the angel brought in destruction or salvation.
Although his father, the king of the Seelie Court would never admit it, in the deepest corners of their minds they feared that the Chosen Original was none other than the Unseelie Queen herself or worse, her golden knight.
He'd heard the tales of course, although he may simply have been a bastard son of he Fae King he'd been brought up carefully as a prince who had his foot in both worlds. Which meant that growing up he'd simultaneously balanced algebra with Fae history and sword fighting.
Fae history was splattered with blood, wars and never ending fights and in L of them the Unseelie Queen and her knight were labelled as ruthless, unbeatable and despicable.
But for some strange reason Declan had always found them unbelievably cunning rather than anything else.
Because no matter which way he saw it, Declan realised that the Seelie's had always started the war and the Unseelie Queen had always ended it, with a simple wave of her hand.
The incarnation of death, that's what people called her. One touch and she could kill you in an instant and her eyes which she hid behind the veil could turn you to ash in a single glance.
Every time the Seelie's planned a siege on the Unseelie Court, the Unseelie never sent a single soldier to fight back
It was always only the Queen and her knight against the enemy, may it be a small squadron or an entire legion of them.
And they always won.
So far history had been bloody, but only on the Seelie's side who'd lost thousands of lives against their rival court.
As for the other, there had not been a single casualty.
For centuries the Seelie's Fae had racked their heads over how to defeat them but nothing worked.
The Unseelie Queen was death and her golden knight was something even worse.
"It's not his responsibility to baby you." Vaselia voice cut through Declan's thoughts"Especially sin-"
This time Raphael cut in,"Enough Vaselia."
Aubrey shook her head,"No, no by all means go ahead hating me for something I've not done yet. Please do talk about me and share all your knowledge with eachother about me and happily exclude me out of the conversation when it's about me."
Aubrey took a step forward and even Vaselia shrank under her stare,"I deserve to find answers. I deserve an explanation and you of all people don't have the damn right to keep me from what I deserve. You got that?"
"Declan." Vaselia's voice was pleading,"Aren't you going to say something?"
So Declan's prediction had been true, Aubrey had won the fight.
Vaselia turned to look at him, her eyes glassy.
And the look she gave him...
It was as if he'd already told her what lay ahead in her future.
Could he have?
No he wouldn't. No matter what version of Declan Vaselia had met, he couldn't have been that cruel as to reveal everything to her.
Aubrey cut in, coming inbetween the both of them.
"Sorry about spoiling this whole reunion but I've had enough of this." Aubrey said,"I'm going to talk to Declan. Alone."
Not waiting for Vaselia or his approval Aubrey proceeded to drag Declan out the door by tugging on his sleeve.
Declan could have resisted or pulled away but instead he opted to let himself be pulled because he'd just about had enough of seeing Vaselia.
He needed a break from the nightmare and preferably some fresh air that wasn't tinged with the tension of Aubrey and Vaselia's clear dislike of eachother.
Outside the temperature had dropped by several degrees and the wind had started picking up speed.
"You're hiding something." She started in a low voice.
Declan rolled his eyes trying to deflect the topic,"I'm always hiding something."
"You've met her before." Aubrey stated,"Haven't you? During your first trip to Atlantis."
So Declan had been right. Aubrey had figured it out, but not all of it.
"You should be dead." Aubrey continue without an answer,"Those were the first words you said to me, when we met. It's because you confused me with her, didn't you?"
Declan could barely hide his surprise. He'd underestimated Aubrey a lot more than he had initially realised and now he was paying for it.
She'd seen right through him in a matter of seconds and uncovered one of the secrets he'd spent years hiding.
He suppose that was a talent that only she possessed. She'd been the only one who'd figured out the true nature of his powers, that too so quickly.
He supposed it was because everything went haywire around her whether it be Declan's powers or even his common sense.
"You've seen her die haven't you?" She persisted,"It's probably why your future version kidnapped her from the palace, to keep her safe."
Declan didn't say a word.
"You owe me an explanation." Aubrey said,"Sure we have our differences but I'll keep your secret. The Fae, the wolves whoever, I swear I won't say a word. But I need you to tell me whatever you're hiding, because whether you like it or not I got dragged here with you. So your ship is tied to mine. And if I go down because you didn't truste then Ill make sure that you're going to sink with me."
Declan could have said no.
By all means he should have said no.
Her argument was flawed, pointless and absolutely stupid.
It would have been very easy to say no.
But instead he simply sighed and said,"Fine. What do you want to know?"